Spring is on the way

Do you know what you are seeing here?  This is a sure sign that Spring is coming -- soon.  These are LOTS of frogs eggs in the little pond outside my studio window.  Tadpoles will soon be swimming - frog croaks will soon drown out my studio music - and I will be ever so happy.

"Life stands before me like an eternal spring with new and brilliant clothes." - Carl Friedrich Gauss

"Enchantment"

I was thrilled when I pulled the word "enchantment" out of my word jar.  And then -- not so thrilled because I just couldn't think of how I would portray this word.  Its such a rich word -- it brings all sorts of images to my mind as I think of it.  Enchantment is actually what I try to create when I bring a beaded figure to life. My mind then drifted to the places of enchantment that fill my life and, looking out my studio window, the forest beyond drew me in.  What can be more enchanting than our natural world? 

Here in western North Carolina we are blessed with rich, dense forests.  The color green is all around us during this time of the year and narrow paths draw us deep into the woods.  There in the woods we hear birdsong and the rustle of squirrels and the croak of the frog.  Ahh, my inspiration for 'Enchantment' had arrived.  There is a small pond outside my studio window and it brims with frogs.  At times the noises they make are so loud that I can hear them clearly while I sit here and bead. 

The 'greens' in this piece don't show up as well in photography as they do in person -- they are more 'olive' colored and deeper and richer in tone.  Sorry about that!

And so, my June BJP has become a piece of this enchanted forest and perhaps there's even a prince out there in disguise as a frog.

"Enchant: subject to magical influence, cast as a spell over, bewitch - 'enchantment' act or art of enchanting". 

Goodbye Summer

Summer days – discovering a hidden waterfall by traveling up a ribbon of long and winding pavement. There was Shunkenwauken Falls, right along the road. The water pouring over the rocks making a warm summer day seem cool and tranquil.


Summer days - A multitude of frogs living in a small pond outside my studio window. My in-house biologist/ecologist contributed this picture of resident “Big Bubba”. DH has the knack of walking right up on the frogs whereas when I approach all I get are plop, plop, plop as they jump back in to the water.

And so I bid goodbye to summer by walking behind the waterfall at Bridal Veil Falls. There is nothing more welcome than a waterfall on a summer day.

Goodbye sweet summer and welcome fall!

"The summer song sings itself." - William Carlos Williams